CLC implements islandwide school tree-planting programme

Principle of Himbutugoda K.V Mangala Jayasinghe planting the first tree of the CLC Green project.

Recognising the timely need for corporates to start giving back to the environment around us, Commercial Leasing & Finance PLC (CLC) has made a timely initiative under the title “CLC Green – To earn sustainable profit”.

As a member of the LOLC group, CLC Green’s initiative is in accordance with the wide-reaching sustainability campaign headed by LOLC’s own Sustainability Committee.

With the aim of conserving Sri Lanka’s biodiversity and enhancing the natural eco-system, this new initiative will also go some way in raising the living standards of the island’s inhabitants across the country. In fact, CLC Green will go beyond just reforestation, as it also aims to teach the next generation the importance of the environment around us. Under the first phase, 60-100 schools in all 25 districts also taking part in CLC’s green initiative. which will see the plantation of over 3000 trees, schools will be identified and presented with trees to be erected in their premises. One unique aspect of the project is that each CLC branch will be incorporated under a branch-by-branch programme, as each school identified will be within a two-kilometre radius of a Commercial Leasing and Finance Branch.

Elaborating on why schools in close proximity to CLC branches were chosen, Prasad Perera, Manager, Marketing Communication, explained how this programme differs from the hordes of other reforestation schemes. The aim of our project is not to grab headlines and wash our hands off after our trees are planted. Instead we want to encourage our youth to cultivate and to nurture the environment around us. We also want to nourish the attitudes and intentions of the younger generations towards tree plantations.